Meet the New Intern: Darryl

Here at DisplayNote, we currently run an intern program within our engineering team. For us, it’s an opportunity to gain fresh talent and perspective, a new approach to how we do things. For young professionals, it’s a chance to be exposed to the industry, to get hands-on with technology and problem-solving.

We’ve asked our new interns a few questions, to find out a little more about them and what they’re expecting over the coming year…

Next up is Darryl, a Computer Science student from Queen’s University who has just joined the Belfast team as an Engineering Intern.

Hi there Darryl! Firstly, for anyone who doesn’t know you, tell us a little bit about yourself…

Hi, my name is Darryl Donnelly! I’m studying Computer Science at Queen’s University Belfast. I am interested in computers and how they work, how people program them, and how they may overcome certain limitations or challenges. I enjoy all sorts of games and puzzles; I like the process of seeing if I can program recreations of them or write code to play or solve them.

What are some of your favourite parts of your university course?

I like the programming projects. We’ve had individual and group programming projects; they’ve always felt more like an interesting challenge. A specific project we had was on machine learning, in which, using R, we created a model which we would then train to recognize certain letters, numbers, and other characters. I have a particular interest in artificial intelligence and machine learning, so it was something I enjoyed doing.

What attracted you to the DisplayNote Intern Program?

I had been looking into placements and internships for a while, and I found the internship on my university’s portal. I looked into both the position and the company itself; they seemed to be what I was looking for. I wanted an opportunity to work with a real team and gain real experience, working with the kind of collaborative software that can always be effectively used in so many fields.

What are you hoping to gain from the experience?

Proper work experience itself was the big thing. The opportunity to work with an experienced team in the field is something I have wanted for a long time. And the opportunity to learn and experiment with technologies I would otherwise not be able to try out. Perhaps end with a permanent position, should everything go well…

Are there any new languages or technologies you’re excited to try out?

I always like to learn and experiment with new languages and try out different technologies, and I’m very excited for the opportunity to try out anything new. For the near future, I’m looking forward to working with Git, as well as programming for a desktop and mobile application using C# and Xamarin.

If you were to set yourself an intention for the year, what would it be?

The intention I’ve set is to work hard and try my best, to learn from this year of experience and improve myself. I want to make the most out of the time I have working here, working with a team on real projects, working on software that will be used in the real world, the kind of experience you wouldn’t truly get in university. I intend on making this year meaningful.

We’re always on the lookout for fresh talent. If you’d like to find out about intern opportunities within our engineering or business teams, drop us a message at info@displaynote.com.